A world of change

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And with this, a $100, 40-watt speaker that looks exactly like a stage monitor but nonetheless isn't quite a stage monitor, the bizarre, alternate universe of rhythm gaming is complete.

First things first: you can't plug your guitar into this. It's not a guitar amp, and it doesn't have a 1/4-inch input, and the 6.5-inch speaker simply isn't designed for it. It does have stereo analog inputs, meaning it'll hook right up to your game console, giving your rhythm game of choice more power, and more importantly better sound resolution.

At first glance the concept is patently ridiculous—the line between an amp and a fake amp is much thinner than between a guitar and a fake guitar, and you can buy an amp for this much—but rhythm games are essentially social, and built-in TV speakers are uniformly terrible, so having a portable "amp" to bring to parties isn't actually such a terrible idea. [Altec Lansing]

They haven't said exactly how much will be on the table, but the first competition will start on April the 1st (maybe it's all a big April Fool's joke?), with the app hitting the Market on March 20th so you've got a few days of practice up your sleeve. [Door-6 via AndroidandMe]

newVideoPlayer( {"type":"video","player":"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/v\/-9N5XsQr7tU&hl=en&fs=1&fmt=22","customParams":[],"width":500,"height":412,"ratio":0.824,"flashData":"","embedName":null,"objectId":null,"noEmbed":false,"source":"youtube"} );

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newVideoPlayer( {"type":"video","player":"http:\/\/vimeo.com\/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=9748050&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=&fullscreen=1","customParams":[],"width":500,"height":375,"ratio":0.75,"flashData":"","embedName":null,"objectId":null,"noEmbed":false,"source":"vimeo"} ); It's possible that you've been reading reports of Microsoft's body-capturing Project Natal with some skepticism, wondering, "how well can this cockamamie setup possibly work?" Well, going by this video of it perfectly tracking a guy breakdancing, pretty damn well.

As best we can guess, Natal will be making its way to Xboxes sometime this fall. That means we've still got a good deal of waiting ahead of us, so every once in a while it's nice to have a reminder of why we're so excited. February's reminder: this video of Natal perfectly tracking a dude dancing during the requisite playground ball demo game.

The video isn't as much of a slam dunk on the lag factor. At some points it looks like there's a definite delay between the dancer's movements and those of his avatar on screen, and at other times the lag seems imperceptible. It's hard to say for sure. But as for the motion capture itself, even in low light situations, it appears to be undeniably smooth. [Project Natal Games - Thanks, Jordan!]

This is Nathan. While the rest of you were off being giddy about playing as Big Daddy in Bioshock 2, Nathan was building himself a costume that lets him play as Big Sister in real life. Now that's commitment.

It's the designer's second Bioshock costume: two years ago he made a similarly impressive Big Daddy get-up. And as you can see, a DIY Big Sister costume isn't for the faint of heart: corsets and leg braces are just the beginning. But if you're a truly dedicated gamer—or a truly deranged costume enthusiast—it doesn't get much better than this. If you start yours now, you've got an outside shot of having it ready by Halloween. [College Humor]

D

E

Continue reading Entelligence: Got game?

Filed under: Cellphones

Entelligence: Got game? originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 15 Nov 2009 19:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Epic shows off Unreal Engine 3 running on iPhone / iPod touch

Epic shows off Unreal Engine 3 running on iPhone / iPod touch originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 22 Dec 2009 12:21:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Post from http://www.gadgettastic.com

Etch A Sketch Freestyle

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newVideoPlayer( {"type":"video","player":"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/v\/wJItdmumxYY&hl=en&fs=1&fmt=22","customParams":[],"width":500,"height":412,"ratio":0.824,"flashData":"","embedName":null,"objectId":null,"noEmbed":false,"source":"youtube"} ); We've seen augmented reality put ads on buildings and give cars superpowers. But when applied to a first-person shooter game like in this video? That's taking the intensity up just a notch or ten. UPDATED:

As you can see, once the player puts on his augmented reality helmet and goggles his surroundings are suddenly populated by machine-gun-toting baddies wielding SWAT-level armor. It seems like there's no penalty for shooting the "hostages," but anyone who's seen Speed knows that's just how it should be.

This is just a demo, so no telling how long until it's viable for mass use. But you know what I think? I think this technology and Duke Nukem Forever are destined for a simultaneous release.

UPDATE: Aw, nuts: according to readers more well-versed in Israeli television shows than I am, this is just a TV clip. That doesn't mean I can't still love it as a concept, though! [Nowhere Else]

When Mark reviewed the Nokia Booklet 3G last November, he unfortunately didn't have 40 of them so couldn't play a giant game of Guess Who by himself. But the guys at WOMWorld/Nokia did, making a hilarious video in the process.

Are you the blue website with the red hat and an eyeglass? [Recombu]

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newVideoPlayer( {"type":"video","player":"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/v\/7k0V4Zk4Nqs&hl=en&fs=1&fmt=22","customParams":[],"width":500,"height":412,"ratio":0.824,"flashData":"","embedName":null,"objectId":null,"noEmbed":false,"source":"youtube"} ); I'm more excited about Final Fantasy 1 + 2 coming to the iPhone than just about any upcoming iPhone game. It's Final Fantasy! For iPhone!

This is what it looks like in motion. You still have to use the traditional iPhone control scheme of putting your left thumb over 1/6 of the screen, and your right thumb over another 1/6. But still, it's not like this is an action game where you need to see everything on the screen at once. And that's why it'll theoretically transition well to the iPhone, letting you pick up the action whenever you've got a free second, but being able to save/pause when it's your turn at the post office. [Crunchgear]

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The iPad's not even on sale yet, but that hasn't stopped designer Michael Greenberg from imagining a gaming peripheral for it. Like the wheels built for the Wiimote, the iDrift could help aid in turning sharp corners when gaming. [Yanko]

I never owned a Nintendo 64, and that was totally fine. See, I lived within biking distance of a Blockbuster.

Despite its gradual decline on account of downloadable demos and general console popularity (if you don't have one, one of your friends does), the in-store kiosk is still going strong—walk into any Best Buy or GameStop, and you can play a Wii, a PS3, and an Xbox, or even a PSP and a DS. And just like in the 80s and 90s, the kiosk's chances of the coveted trifecta of retail demo gaming (switched on, connected to working controllers, and playing a non-demo version of a game without time limits) hover at around 10%.

Anyway, Kombo's rounded up visual history of some of the most memorable console demo stations, and I defy any of you to make it through without suffering through at least two military grade Circuit City line-battle flashbacks. It's my turn, you turd. [Kombo]

Freeverse, the company bought up by ngmoco, is is behind paid iPhone games such as Skee-Ball, Flick Fishing, Flick Bowling, and Moto Chaser. There's no word on whether the purchase will lead to a change in the sales model, but it'll definitely lead to us seeing the familiar ngmoco logo even more. [Tech Crunch via Business Insider]

Game Developer Research says that Apple is winning the race among handheld game developers: 19 percent write now for the iPhone and iPod touch. That's more than double the amount of Nintendo DS and Sony PSP developers. Other interesting figures:

• Handheld games are now 25 percent of the whole gaming market, up from 12 percent before the iPhone/iPod touch phenomenon.
• During the last three quarters, all handheld game developers are writing for the Apple iPhone and iPod touch.

No wonder why Nintendo's President not a fan of the iPad. [Electronista]

The premise of Tweet Defense is simple: The more you tweet and the more Twitter followers you gain, the stronger your tower defenses will be. Clever, though hopefully RT bonuses will come in the future. $1. [iTunes via Kotaku]

The premise of Tweet Defense is simple: The more you tweet and the more Twitter followers you gain, the stronger your tower defenses will be. Clever, though hopefully RT bonuses will come in the future. $1. [iTunes via Kotaku]

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Tapulous, developer of the Tap Tap Revenge series of iPhone apps, is raking in $1m a month from sales through the App Store.

Over 20 million downloads have been recorded, with over 600 million games played. To say that Tapulous, with just 20 employees, has been buying in the luxury three-ply toilet paper for their office loo in recent months would be a total understatement. [Reuters]

Convenience store sales of sausages are supposedly up 39% over the same period last year. [Hani - Thanks Sang!]

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Instead of a cube, the Techno Source Rubik's Slide is a thick slab with only one face. You'd think that reducing the number of blocks to keep track of from 54 to 9 would make things easier, but the slide provides its own unique challenges: the top of the slab can be slid up, down, left, or right to nudge the colored blocks in that direction or it can be twisted to rotate the blocks into a new orientation. When blocks get nudged over the edge, they pop back on the other side, like the tunnels in Pac Man.

It's confusing when you try to explain it with words and only slightly less so when you see it demonstrated in action:

newVideoPlayer( {"type":"video","player":"http:\/\/bg-video.cp.motionbox.com\/motionboxons\/flash\/VideoPlayer.swf?type=sd&video_uid=4c99d8b4181ee9c9c4&security_token=prod3.a124429d7bbfb6dd","customParams":{"allowScriptAccess":"always"},"width":500,"height":319.65,"ratio":0.6393,"flashData":"","embedName":"mbox_player_4c99d8b4181ee9c9c4","objectId":"mbox_player_4c99d8b4181ee9c9c4","noEmbed":false,"source":"motionbox"} );

To play, you press a "check" button that displays a solution and then try to rearrange the blocks into that configuration. Not all of the blocks are lit at once—the less you're managing the easier—and you can play against the clock or just see how many solutions you can rack up. As they're solved, the puzzles give you more blocks to slide into the correct place.

My spatial reasoning isn't the strongest, and even though my brain didn't understand exactly what I was doing, I still managed to figure out a couple of the easiest puzzles after only a few seconds of playing with the toy.

Whereas last year's Rubik's TouchCube seemed like all of the frustration of the original with none of the tactile satisfaction, the Slide's sliding feels pretty pleasing in your hands and keeps you wanting to fiddle even when your mentally spent.

The Rubik's Slide packs over 10,000 puzzles and will be available soon for $17.99 [TechnoSource]

Toy Fair is the annual event where we get to completely regress back to childhood and check out all of the awesome toys coming out for the rest of the year. And well, we love toys.

newVideoPlayer( {"type":"video","player":"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/v\/kofSYRB-vh4&hl=en&fs=1&fmt=22","customParams":[],"width":500,"height":412,"ratio":0.824,"flashData":"","embedName":null,"objectId":null,"noEmbed":false,"source":"youtube"} ); Mindflex, the brandwave-detecting game, will probably give you a headache no matter what. But Harcos Labs decided to take it further, with a hacked Mindflex that shocks you when you concentrate too hard. The result: science, and hilarious shock videos.

The original Mindflex headset indicates how hard you're concentrating with a series LEDs. But with a little ingenuity and an electroshock kit, the devilish geniuses at Harcos turned it into something of a torture device:

Harcos hooked up the leads of the LEDs to a transistor/resistor relay network so they'd instead activate an electric-shock kit made by QKit. The end result? Concentrate a little, and you'll get zapped a little. Concentrate hard, and you'll get an electrical pulse that will make you think you've wandered onto the set of Green Mile.

Of course, the more worried you are about getting shocked, the higher the voltage. Which is cruel. And unusual. And so much fun to watch. [Wired]

Monopoly Revolution will be out in Fall, for $35. And don't worry—you'll still be able to find old-style boards, too.

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Mario Kart is one of the most popular games on the DS, but imagine using a virtual steering wheel to control your car. A patent has turned up showing just that, taking the DSi's touchscreen control to the next level.

In typical patent jargon, the document says:

In one exemplary illustrative non-limiting implementation, a video game or other application displays an image of a steering wheel. Such display may be on the same screen as one that displays other information such as a race course or other environment through which the vehicle may be maneuvered in a simulated fashion, or it may be on a different screen. The steering wheel display is, in one exemplary illustrative non-limiting implementation, displayed on a screen that is touch sensitive. The touch-sensitive functionality of the screen is used in at least some exemplary illustrative non-limiting implementations to allow the video game player to control the position of the steering wheel displayed on the screen. The displayed vehicle steering wheel position, in turn, is used to control the travel motion or direction of the vehicle being simulated. The resulting simulation provides a realistic input control interface obtainable using relatively inexpensive and compact input devices such as those available on conventional portable or other video game play and/or simulation platforms.

It'd do what the Wii did to racing games with the steering wheel peripheral. It's instantly more accessible to non-gamers, which is what Nintendo's all about these days. Sigh. [GoRumors]

Nintendo's often-outspoken President, Satoru Iwata, speaking about the iPad. [Yahoo News]

Normally Nintendo's slip-ups come from the mouth of Satoru Iwata, but this time Shigeru Miyamoto has blabbed about upcoming hardware and a new project using the MotionPlus peripheral.

Collecting a Special Achievement Prize at the Japan Media Arts Festival on the weekend, Miyamoto referred to upcoming new hardware, the latest Zelda game, and a project involving MotionPlus. No Wii HD mention sadly, but I'll keep my fingers and toes crossed. [Andriasang via Joystiq]

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Whoa, whoever said Palm didn't have any decent games will definitely be eating their hat for dinner tonight. Assassin's Creed: Altaïr's Chronicles has just hit the Palm Pre app store, last seen on the DS, iPhone and Symbian phones.

The prequel to the first Assassin's Creed is a couple of years old now, but still worth checking out as it's probably one of the biggest names to hit the Pre (apart from Doom and Quake, which aren't exactly official). I say Pre, and not webOS—sadly, the Pixi and Pixi Plus are too underpowered. Available now for $6.99. [PreCentral]

While PlayStation still hasn't confirmed whether its motion controller will be called the Arc, the rumor mill has gone one step further this week with a forum-poster claiming it'll work alongside a Wii-like nunchuk.

GDC is kicking off over in San Francisco this week, so if ever there was a venue to announce a new add-on—or even confirmation of the name—that would be it.

The forum-poster at NeoGAF, by the name of Ichinisan, reckons the pictures he saw of the nunchuk included an analog stick, plus X and O buttons, along with L1 and L2 buttons under the D-Pad. The wand-shaped Arc meanwhile apparently has "one very big button on top" (no word if s/he meant the big glowing globe, or something else), and X, O, triangle and square buttons. The trigger is the 'T' command, according to this mysterious poster—who could very well be full of shit, as he's just a junior member of the forums. He does comment that "it's actually long, not like the Wii Nunchuk"—which measures 22.9 x 17.8 x 5.7cm. [NeoGAF via VG247 via TechRadar]

If Matt had to change his pants over the Valve Apple teasers the other day, what will today's wardrobe malfunction be? I only ask because the latest GameInformer confirms Portal 2 is coming to Mac. Update: Steam's officially coming to Mac in April, with free cross-platform syncing!

Scheduled for a fall release, Portal 2 will be a full-fledged Portal experience distributed to the Mac, presumably, by an all-but-confirmed Steam service for that platform. [MacRumors]

He didn't break the record 3200 Netflix DVDs stolen earlier this year, but remember: Games are worth more. So Reginald Johnson can feel like a winner, in jail, where he'll be for the next year or two. [Philly.com]

A lot of us subject our computers to quite a bit of abuse. We overcrowd their hard drives and overclock their processors. We bang on their keyboards. We smudge their screens. If you want a case mod that will keep you in line, this one, taking the form of Kratos, the main character from the God of War game series, will do just that.

newVideoPlayer( {"type":"video","player":"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/v\/3rVLj0ibNWA&hl=en&fs=1&fmt=22","customParams":[],"width":500,"height":412,"ratio":0.824,"flashData":"","embedName":null,"objectId":null,"noEmbed":false,"source":"youtube"} );

With Kratos's unflinching stare burning a hole in the side of your head, you're sure to always stay on task and treat your machine with respect. Or he'll have your typing fingers. [Engadget]

Singer has since then attempted to appeal that decision on the grounds that it "violated his free speech and due process rights." He lost his lawsuit in federal court and all of his D&D-related materials—including a 96-page scenario manuscript—were confiscated. [Oakland Tribune via Boing Boing]

Picture by Thomas Roche

Well, this is a nice thing that Sony and Hong Kong International Airport have done: there are now 14 PS3 "Game Poles" (read: kiosks) distributed throughout the airport for travelers who've exhausted the entertainment potential of the Duty Free shop.

Curiously, the games that they've chosen to provide—like Final Fantasy XIII, Avatar, and Uncharted 2—have the kind of long story arcs that don't exactly lend themselves to a two-hour delay. But hey, that's probably the point! The first hit's free, etc.

It's a great thought, but if the lines are anything like those at the sports bars at JFK during a snowstorm, I'm not sure the riots will be entirely worth it. [The Moodie Report via Kotaku]

Mark said that the PSPgo goes nowhere you haven't been. He wasn't impressed, to say the least. Perhaps the fact that it has been hacked and someone added a Sega Genesis emulator will make him change his mind.

But then, that's nowhere where you haven't been before, so probably he won't give a damn either. And I won't blame him. [Joystiq]

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The Snapdragon processor from Qualcomm is fast becoming the standard chip for smartphones—both Android and Windows Mobile—but surprisingly we haven't seen anything that can harness its performance in gaming. That may change this year, according to Qualcomm.

Speaking to Mobile-Entertainment at Mobile World Congress, their VP of product management, Mark Frankel, said:

"There will be, by the end of this year, specific game-centric platforms launched around Snapdragon"

"You'll be able to see clearly that gaming is the main focus of those devices. There'll be a category of gaming devices that hasn't been on the marketplace before using Snapdragon."

The lack of gaming-centric phones was something we were bemoaning recently, although that could change with the Xbox 360 integration in Windows Phone 7 Series. [Mobile-Entertainment]

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Retro Thing's joystick lights up blue when plugged into a USB port, and is compatible with Atari, Amiga and Commodore emulators. Bundled with the joystick is a CD with over 80 suitably-retro games, and the Stella Atari 2600 emulator. It's only $29.95 too—or $44.95 with a retro t-shirt thrown in for good measure. [Reflex Audio via Retro Thing via Make]

The $10 Rock Band iPhone app that's on the App Store now is basically the console experience brought to your phone, complete with a music store to get new songs for $1. The only thing lacking is the control scheme.

Rock Band suggests that you play with your thumbs on the bottom of the phone, supporting the weight of the phone by gripping it at the base. People with normal-sized hands will find the position cramp-inducing, but bearable. I would recommend that you lay the top of the phone on the edge of your desk to support some of the weight and give you more freedom to lift your thumbs up to move around without worrying about dropping your phone, but that's just me.

The guitar/bass gameplay is essentially a port of the Rock Band you know from previous Rock Band and Guitar Hero games, and what you're familiar with if you've played the Tap Tap games on your iPhone. The singing is unfortunately NOT singing, and you'll have to tap one of the four pedals on the side to "sing". The drums are just like drums, and just like the guitar gameplay, so that's not that surprising. So it's only the singing that's kind of a disappointment.

For $10, it's not that bad of a game, even though the limitations of the control scheme put a hard barrier on how difficult the songs can be. Even with hammer-ons and pull-offs in place, the guitar difficulty can never really progress beyond having you play with two thumbs at once and moving one thumb around really fast.

There is multiplayer, but only over Bluetooth and only locally (obviously). I didn't test this out.

gawkerGallery(5385070,7,'');

Your other consideration is that the base game is 158MB already, and each song comes somewhere between 10-20MB each. If you have a smaller device, you might have to delete some stuff to fit this. It would be nice if buying a song also added an iTunes version of the song to your library, but that's pretty unlikely. And although the game ships with 20 songs, only 15 are available at the start, and you'll have to unlock the other five. [iTunes]

The DS 2 (not to be confused with the XL, which only ate a super mushroom), is reportedly alive and kicking, with developers now testing the motion-sensing console—but it won't be ready in time for GDC in March.

CVG spoke to a developer at one of the studios that's been lucky enough to receive the early prototype, and apparently it's already making waves there:

"It's genuinely the best thing I think I've ever worked with, I can tell you that it's got a 'tilt' function that's not dissimilar to iPhone, but does a lot more. We know that The Pokemon Company are getting special attention with it."

The Pokemon Company is a a division of Nintendo that handles marketing and licensing for Pokemon games—suggesting one of the launch titles that will take advantage of the HD screen and motion-sensing console will be a continuation of the Pokemon saga. It's been a while since I've checked in with Ash and Pikachu, but I'll definitely give it another spin if it's got some cool iPhone-like tilt control when battling. [CVG]

I know Sony's been working through its propriety issues of late, using the ePub format for ereaders and—heaven forbid!—launching its first range of SD cards. But opening the PlayStation up so the controller can be used with rival game consoles? Well I never.

GoRumors has dug up a patent suggesting Sony's working on a controller with a touchscreen LCD panel that would display commands for other consoles or players that have been set up to work with it.

The patent spells it out:

"A game console controller includes a hand-holdable housing and a touch sensitive liquid crystal display (LCD) on the housing. The LCD is caused to present, depending on what type of game console a user has selected, a controller key layout for a first type of game console or a controller key layout for a second type of game console. A key layout includes plural keys selectable by a user to input commands to a game console."

By the looks of the diagram, the controller wouldn't just be a remote control that would let you turn on the different consoles—it would be an actual gaming peripheral, with the X/Y A/B buttons displayed on the LCD. It certainly wouldn't replace the use of an Xbox 360 or Wii controller, as I can't imagine mashing my thumbs on a touchscreen display for too long, but could be handy when you've got extra friends around and not enough pads to go around. Or as I mentioned before, turning the consoles on to access media.

I'm just in a state of shock that Sony of all companies is proposing this idea. I need to go lie down for a while. [GoRumors - Thanks Anand!]

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Sony's dildo-esque motion controller was rumored to be called the Gem, but a domain registration of playstationarc.com by Sony Computer Entertainment, Inc suggests otherwise. [VGChartz via Spong]

Like many of you, many of us are huge Star Trek fans. It not only shaped everyone's view of technology from a young age, it's arguably one of the driving forces of technology today. And now you can live it.

Here's a quick intro to what Star Trek Online is all about. It's about 30 years after the last Next Generation movie. You play an ensign that gets promoted (like new Kirk) to Captain because every officer above him gets killed. It's a hell of a way to climb the rankings, but it leads to you being placed in command of your own starship, but still being green enough to require tutelage into how everything works.

You spend half your time controlling a ship and half the time on the ground with an away team.

The space part

This is by far the more satisfying part. Who hasn't wanted to sit in Picard, Kirk, Scott Bakula or any of the lesser captain's chairs and order people to fire everything? Who can say that they haven't wanted to smoothly say "make it so" and have something—besides your wife giving you dirty looks—happen? This is that.

Although the main philosophies of the Star Trek universe revolve around exploration, and peace, and diplomacy, blowing shit up has always been the reward for sitting through Picard's flute playing. And this is supremely satisfying. Phasers and photon torpedoes fire with the correct sound effects, Klingon cruisers explode with a bass-rattling pppptththhhbbffffooooo, and maneuvering the cruise ship-like vessels feels natural, not clunky.

The ground part

And here is where the developers need more work. The bugs are evident, from the fact that you sometimes materialize on the ground as a starship, or when your away team fails to beam down with you, or when certain mission objectives are gone entirely. The game's still in open beta, which is why we're giving our impressions now, so there's time to get everything in better shape before launch.

On the whole, the ground portion feels like a more Star Trekked version of City of Heroes, which was made by the same developer, Cryptic. It's tolerable (fun, even), but going on away team missions wasn't exactly the funnest part of the show. It's what Picard sent Riker to do while he sipped tea in his ready room.

Next time, on Star Trek..

We'll go more in depth about how the mission structure works, how leveling up/advancing in rank gets you more access to ships, and how closely the game stays to the established Trek "feel" that everyone is used to. Plus, what pre-order bonuses you should get in on.

If you want more coverage, check out Kotaku's Star Trek Online page. We're going to mostly focus on how the game appeals to Star Trek fans, but if you want more info about how the game is as a game, Kotaku's got you covered.

SteelSeries NP+ mousepad not made of steel, water resistant nonetheless - Here's one for those gamers who insist on angry looking peripherals with names like "

Continue reading SteelSeries NP+ mousepad not made of steel, water resistant nonetheless

SteelSeries NP+ mousepad not made of steel, water resistant nonetheless originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 08 Jan 2010 15:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Street Fighter IV is almost here for the iPhone, and Capcom is tantalizingly drip-feeding us with details about the coolest thumb-masher to hit the App Store. It'll cost a rather large $9.99, and will have eight playable characters, including Ryu.

Gamepro got an early hands-on with the iPhone and iPod Touch version, and while they haven't published their first impressions yet, they were able to confirm with Capcom that it's due to hit the App Store next month—and film the below video showing the game in action. It looks like the game control still blocks out the characters (your thumbs are literally on top of them), so it'd make more sense if Capcom had more ground and less air in the gameplay. [Gamepro via Kotaku]

Image credit: IGN

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A new war will be breaking out on the App Store—Street Fighter IV vs. Tekken. Namco's confirmed Tekken will be available soon for thumb-twiddling iPhone users, though the details remain as scarce as Ling Xiaoyu's costume. [Fonehome]

It gets tiresome, that old "Android doesn't have any games!" refrain, especially now that it's not really true. Disgruntled French site Android HD has compiled annotated video proof of at least 50 worthy titles. See, look! Right there! Fun. [AndroidHD]

Still mashing your thumbs on the original PS3, after the PS3 Slim failed to ignite your fire? Yeah, me too—but unfortunately Sony's not going to give us love anytime soon, looking at these FCC documents.

The two documents don't detail any of the changes, though it looks like they're physically similar to the current Slims available today. Bluetooth 2.0 and 802.11b/g Wi-Fi are both ever-present, but as for the other components? Start revving your Photoshop's engine to send some "leaks" spiraling onto the gadget blogs. [FCC via PS3 News via Engadget]

U

Symphony, screenshot above, is a game that uses your own music library to generate enemies on the fly. Think of it like a shmup where the soundtrack (presumably) doesn't suck ass.

This video should illustrate what the gameplay is like. It's made by a company familiar with music games, but the reason we're interested is with the digital music part. How well it'll work is up to the developers, but it's something that we want to see more of.

In fact, games like this could help sell music in weird ways if users are posting that certain songs get them certain levels that are really great. A crap song could make for a really good level. At the very least, you'll be able to explore your music library in a weird way. [Joystiq]

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newVideoPlayer("/gizmodo-mariofight.flv", 500, 375,""); You know recession has reached a new low when two Italian plumbers from Brooklyn go to Staten Island to beat a cabbie and steal his cash. That's more or less what happened at this gas station last Halloween.

The two guys, dressed as Mario and Luigi, were in a yellow cab with two other individuals at around 4am. It was then when one of the passengers tried to get his hand into the driver's pocket, who stopped in a gas station at 863 Arthur Kill Road in Great Kills, and asked them to pay and leave.

At that point, Mario and Luigi got out of the car and started to beat the cabbie, perhaps thinking that gold coins were going to jump out of him. Idiots. Everybody knows that only works with bouncy brick blocks. [NY Daily News via Kotaku]

Video editing by Kyle VanHemert.

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This is a tricky one. What's the QR Code on that flag our little Android friend is waving?

Turns out the QR code that leads to a game on the Android site, where you can play a Nexus-One-only game of Android-themed memory.

It's basically that classic game in which you have to find the pairs of cards with matching icons, except here the icons are adorably dressed Android logos. By the way, it's supposed to be limited to users of the Nexus One, but, well, it's pretty easy to get around that. Phandroid has instructions if you're interested in playing. [Phandroid, GDGT and TechCrunch]

The Classic Controller Pro for Wii has been available in Japan for some time already, but it's making its way to these here parts this April.

The controller looks like it came from the PS2 factory, and it won't plug directly directly into your Wii. Instead, you have to plug it into your Wii Remote, which isn't that much of a hassle. It'll ship with Monster Hunter Tri, but will also be sold separately for $20.

The Classic Controller Pro will come in black or white, and be compatible more than 450 Wii, WiiWare, and Virtual Console games. The design includes a second row of shoulder buttons, and an "ergonomic" grip, which sounds like marketing pablum to me. Still, though, looks neat!

The Perfect Bundle for Hunting Season: Monster Hunter® Tri and Wii Classic Controller Pro Come Together for the First Time in North America

Bundle Will Bring the Highly-Anticipated New Controller and Popular Franchise Together for the Ultimate Monster Hunting Experience on the Wii System

SAN MATEO, Calif. & REDMOND, Wash.—(BUSINESS WIRE)— Capcom® Entertainment, a leading worldwide developer and publisher of video games, and Nintendo of America today announced an exciting new bundle featuring one of the most highly anticipated titles for 2010, Monster Hunter® Tri, and combining it with the new Classic Controller Pro™ for the Wii™ system. The Classic Controller Pro's more traditional control configuration will give gamers the ultimate Monster Hunting experience when the bundle becomes available in North America this April at a suggested retail price of $59.99.

"Monster Hunter Tri has made a huge splash in the Japanese market, and we're confident the bundle with the Classic Controller Pro will give fans in North America plenty to get excited about," said Steve Singer, Nintendo of America's vice president of Licensing. "Gamers of all kinds enjoy playing games on Wii. Monster Hunter Tri delivers an incredible new experience on Wii, while the Classic Controller Pro gives players even more control options for their favorite Wii games."

The new Classic Controller Pro includes a second row of shoulder buttons and ergonomically friendly grips. The Classic Controller Pro plugs directly into the Wii Remote™ controller, and until now, has been available only in the Japanese market.

The Classic Controller Pro will be compatible with more than 450 Wii, WiiWare™ and Virtual Console™ games. The Classic Controller Pro bundled with Monster Hunter Tri will be black, while both black and white versions of the controller will also be available separately at a suggested retail price of $19.99. The game will also be available without a controller at a suggested retail price of $49.99.

Making its North American debut on Wii this spring, Monster Hunter Tri is one of the most strikingly beautiful titles developed for Nintendo's Wii system. Pushing the hardware to the limit, Monster Hunter Tri depicts a living, breathing ecosystem where humans co-exist with majestic monsters that roam both dry land and brand new sub-aqua environments – a first for the series. Offering the player varied control configurations to suit their style of play, players can choose between the Classic Controller Pro, Wii Remote™ and Nunchuck™, or Classic Controller™ to slay the monsters that inhabit the world.

The Monster Hunter series has sold over 11 million units worldwide and has become a social phenomenon in Japan giving rise to training camps, dedicated festivals and numerous licensed products. According to Media Create, Monster Hunter Tri sold 520,000 units in its first week of release in Japan and became the leading title sold across all platforms for the week of its release.

This man, Jack Rossi, created a simulation proton pack + thrower so he can play the Wii version of Ghostbusters with as much realism as possible. This is the result.

I gotta admire him for his preference of playability over having this-gen graphics. And for finding a use for all that junk he had lying around his house. [GBFans via Destructoid via Nerd Aproved]

What do you do if you really want a Windows Phone 7 handset but prefer PlayStation to Xbox 360? Microsoft may end up catering for you too, with a senior product manager on the mobile division musing on the possibility.

Michael Chang told TechRadar that Microsoft's doesn't intend to be a closed door to other companies.

"If you look at our history in mobiles, we have never blocked anything off this platform because we compete in the same space, at least not in the phone space."

Typically, he couldn't actually pinpoint "a specific scenario" where they've allowed competing products onto their phones, but mentioned they allow Exchange "on other devices." At a hefty license cost, I'm sure.

But going back to allowing users of WP7 to integrate their PlayStation Network stats and games, it's something they're considering.

"We think it's pretty clear - I was slightly worried that when we showed off Xbox Live on the Windows Phone 7 platform people might think it was Microsoft trying to own the [mobile] world.

"But the simplest way to put it is that there's a very obvious reason we called it the Games hub and the Music + Video hub: Zune and Xbox are key parts, but not the only parts, of the overall Windows Phone experience."

But will they let me play Donkey Kong Country? [TechRadar]

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Zune HD 3D games video hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 11 Nov 2009 13:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.